His Last Breath
by Ki-chanForPresident
Summary: He lost his parents. He lost his home. He lost his best friend. He lost his heart. He lost his love. He lost his life... "Darkness... That's all I see is DARKNESS!" This is the entire life of Lea...or, as you may know, the Nobody Axel. May turn M rated
1. Chapter I

_His Last Breath  
Chapter I_

"You know what today is, right?"

"I can't believe how boring Mori Suna is..."

"Don't you wish to go somewhere other than here more than anything, Sai?"

"Don't continue to linger on things that don't exist, Lea..."

"All I want is to be away from here! Be away from you!"

"Mother! No! Don't leave me! I'm sorry!"

"Darkness... All I see is darkness!"

"What's happening!? Why can't I find the light?"

"My heart is...gone?"

"Axel... Do you remember what you were like?"

"Eh...same guy really."

I would always say that about myself, when really I wasn't the same as my Somebody. I continued to remember how I used to act; polite, kind and trusting. But now...I'm nothing like that.

Mori Suna. A world that was large, open-spaced and full of dense forests, babbling brooks and home to some people who lived in the local town. Some were rich, some were poor, but the majority were indeed poor, having to work hard every day to put good food on the table, because survival in this town meant everything.

But the rich were much different. They could afford pretty much anything they wanted in this town- delicious meals, hot bathes, education, and any other expensive things that could be for entertainment.

It was an early winter morning in Mori Suna, and all of the rich children were on their way to school. A tall and particularly skinny boy was walking slowly on the street, hands warm from the gloves he wore. He was wearing a very warm and cozy looking kimono, his hakama pants much thicker and heavier looking than his summer kimono. But overall, he looked like he was dressed in the perfect attire for winter in Mori Suna.

His jade eyes, however, looked sad and worried as he stared at the icy street he walked across. He continued to sigh, showing his breath in the air. He suddenly came to a stop, pressing a gloved hand to his forehead, his dark red strands falling on the back of his hand slightly.

"Why did you have to marry him, mother?"

"Lea! Lea!"

The red-haired boy, no older than fourteen, gasped gently and was instantly snapped out of his remembrance about earlier this morning. He turned around and saw a taller, slightly older male walking towards him. He was dressed in more winter clothes, not as nice as Lea's, but he still looked warm enough.

He held a slight smile on his face, his long black hair looking blue when the sun would shine just right on his black hair.

"Oh, morning, Sai," Lea said without smiling. "You coming to school today?"

Sai finally caught up to Lea, giving a very quiet chuckle as he stopped right next to him. He had to be about eighteen or so, and he was a few inches taller than Lea, his amber eyes glinting like a pair of wolf eyes. They always reminded Lea of a wild animal that looked ready to go berserk at any given moment.

"Ah, no," replied Sai. "Just felt like walking with you- I was bored."

"Hm." Lea responded, beginning to walk again.

"So, my father is joining the army soon," began Sai, glancing off towards the sunny sky. "He's an amazing samurai, you know. He said that when I turn twenty he'd let me join the dojo so I can start training to become a samurai."

Sai smiled proudly and glanced down at Lea. It seemed that Lea hadn't been listening. He was staring blankly at the street, only one thought on his mind as he walked, and it wasn't about Sai's desire to be a samurai just like his father.

_"Mother, I'm going to school, I'll see you later!" called Lea, rushing down the staircase of his very expensive and nice looking home. He heard no response from where he stood at the bottom of the stairs. He blinked and looked around, waiting to hear a response from his mother from where she would be in the other room._

"Mother?" Lea called gently, walking forward towards another room. He reached out towards the sliding door, pulled it open just a hair, his eye widening in horror at what he saw.

A woman, with radiant red hair, was laying on the tatami floor, wincing and whimpering. There was a horrible red mark on her cheek and she was holding her side in pain. Above her, a tall man who had very sharp orange eyes was staring down at her with an angry expression.

"Don't ever talk back to me like that again, Mizuki! I am your husband and you will treat me with respect!"

Lea's breath caught in his throat and he stepped back, wishing he had the courage to pull open the door the rest of the way and stand up for his mother, but those terrifying orange eyes of his step father made him paralyzed with fear all the more, and he just couldn't pucker up the courage to defend his mother from this beast of a husband she married.

Lea placed a hand over his mouth to stifle a worried noise, his eyes becoming moist when he continued to watch his mother be brutally hurt by his step father. He shook his head and turned quickly, rushing out of the large house and by the time he was past the front gates, he was running, tears trickling down his face, whispering 'mother' over and over.

"Lea, is something wrong?" came the voice of Sai.

Lea blinked and came back to the realization moment and looked up at Sai. He shook his head, his short spiky red hair bouncing slightly at how determined he was with shaking his head and making Sai think that everything was alright.

"You sure? Cause...you can talk to me about anything, you know," said Sai, stopping a moment and reaching out to grasp Lea's shoulder. "I'm your friend, Lea."

Lea looked up at Sai, seeing the black-haired male give a friendly smile and Lea couldn't help but feel ultimately relaxed by this caring smile he had just received, so Lea smiled kindly back.

"Thanks, Sai, but really...nothing's wrong," Lea answered.

Sai released Lea's shoulder and nodded, "You're right. I won't bug you anymore, Lea."

Lea chuckled and rolled his jade eyes, "Thanks, Sai. You weren't _really_ bugging me, though."

The two friends continued to walk until they reached the building where Lea went to school every day- he had the money to get a good education, unlike how Sai did because he wasn't as rich as Lea was.

"Remember, tomorrow is a good day, alright?" Sai said, winking his amber eye at Lea as he passed through the iron gates that lead to the school house.

Lea stopped on the stone and dirt road, looking over at Sai, about to ask what tomorrow was but Sai was gone from Lea's sight. The redhead blinked and shrugged, deciding he'd find out sooner or later and continued on towards the school.

_Even though I'm a Nobody, I remember pretty much everything from when I was still Somebody... I can't believe we're actually the same person... We're just so...different..._

Once school had let out and all of the wealthy teenagers were free to go home, Lea decided to go to the river before he went home. Although his mother was the top thing on his mind right now and he wondered if she was okay or not, he felt the need to just go by the riverside and watch as fishermen in their large boats and bring in delicious looking fish.

It hadn't started snowing yet, but Lea knew it would start soon because it was so cold. As he sat on the dock next to the river, he looked down at the surface of the water, seeing the very thin ice that was there, yet still fish were swimming beneath the ice and living their lives. Lea looked back up over the large river and towards the forest across from him. Lea always wondered what was on the other side of that forest. Lea also thought frequently about what would happen when he grew older? Would he just live in this boring old town for the rest of his life and never do anything extraordinary? He'd finish his school of course and then marry some girl and have a few kids, that would be what would happen.

Lea sighed unpleasantly at the thought and looked back down at the icy water. What was tomorrow? Lea thought to himself, reminded of what Sai had mentioned earlier before school. Lea crossed his arms and pressed himself tighter against his body, feeling a little burst of heat run through him.

Lea flinched harshly when he heard a loud thunderclap come from the sky. The redhead looked up at the sky and saw that it had grown very overcast- a white gray sky was hovering above Mori Suna, and Lea blinked in surprise when he saw the very first snowflake fall from the sky and float down and land right on his cheek. Lea shuddered when he felt the cold, wet snowflake melt on his pale skin.

Lea decided he should go home, besides he wanted to see his mother again. Once he arrived back at his large and nice home, he stepped up to the front doors, sliding them open and slipping his shoes off before closing the door, and quickly because he heard more thunder, snow beginning to pile on the ground.

It was very warm in his home, and Lea sighed when he smelled the sweet aroma of something being prepared in the kitchen. He loved it when his mother would cook instead of the maid, because it was truly made with love and Lea couldn't help but just to find that so wonderful.

The redhead moved more into his home, turning the corner where the meals for the household were made and there he saw his mother and she was preparing dinner, and Lea smiled happily because his mother rarely cooked anything.

"Mother," Lea said gently. "I'm home."

His mother quickly turned when she heard Lea's voice, smiling happily and showing her young, beautiful face that made Lea feel so warm inside. But his smiled soon faded when he saw a large bruise next to her mouth along with a small cut near her temple.

"Mother, you're..."

"Oh, don't worry- it's just a bruise," his mother smiled, walking over to her tall and skinny son and hugging him quickly. "I don't want you to worry about me, sweet-heart, I'll be okay."

Lea's face softened when his mother embraced him like this and he smiled against her shoulder, wrapping his long arms around his mother quickly and squeezing her for a moment.

Lea was the first to pull away, looking up into his mother's pretty face, both of their green eyes meeting together.

"So how was school today?" asked his mother, going back to work preparing dinner.

"Average," Lea replied. "Sai walked with me to school again today."

"You're still talking with him, Lea?" his mother asked, almost sternly.

"W-Well yes," Lea responded, sitting down on a nearby stool.

His mother gave a little hum of a noise and continued stirring something in a large pot.

"He's really the only friend I have," Lea admitted. "Nobody else talks to me, like at school? It's because I'm too quiet and I don't talk much..."

Lea blinked when he felt his mother's presence in front of him and he looked up at her. She had her arms crossed and she was smirking. "Lea... Don't worry about what other people think about you. You are a wonderful, compassionate boy and I love you dearly." She then placed a gentle kiss on Lea's head and returned to cooking.

Lea sighed and rested his cheek against his palm, glancing off to the side and gasping silently when he heard the sliding door open and close. His mother turned to look as well and she glanced down at Lea for a moment before swiftly returning to stirring whatever was in the pot cooking.

Turning the corner was Lea's step father, a tall and strong looking man with shaggy black hair and a bit of facial hair. Those orange eyes landed on Lea first before his mother, Lea gulped nervously and felt himself tense when he stepped closer towards him.

"Hey, Lea," came his step father, offering a fake smile.

Lea didn't say anything, he didn't do anything, just stared up at him with an angry glare. His step father cocked an eyebrow for a moment before stepping over to Lea's mother, wrapping an arm around her waist and whispering something in her ear that Lea couldn't tell what was.

He had pulled away after saying something to Lea's mother, sighing greatly, "Horrible storm is coming. From what I've heard is that it's going to last a few days and an even bigger storm will be coming then."

Lea tilted his head to the side and wondered what this storm was and how bad it could be. And he _still_ wondered what tomorrow was. The curiosity was overwhelming Lea and he wanted to know what Sai was talking about more than anything.

Lea looked back up at his step father and noticed he was looking at his mother with a furious look on his face, but then those terrifying orange eyes turned to stare at Lea. A horrifying shiver raced up Lea's spine and he swallowed, adverting his jade orbs somewhere other than his step father's scary ones.

_Little did I know was that my step father would be with me for far longer than my mother was. He may not have truly been my step father, but it was horrible enough for him to be my step father. I wished I had savored the time with my mother while it lasted because the next time I saw her...it was the wrong way to act before she disappeared..._


	2. Chapter II

A/n: Yes, I changed Sai to Isa because, I'm sure, a lot of you know that Lea and Isa are going to be in Birth by Sleep and I found out recently that Saix's Somebody isn't called Sai but is called Isa.

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Lea didn't sleep so well last night, mostly it was from the loud thunder and lightning crashing about outside. The snow was piling up heavily on the ground, creating a thick, white sheet across the ground. There was no rain, but still so much thunder and lightning. It was some strange storm that Lea had never experienced before. Whenever there was any thunder and lightning there'd always be rain, not snow. It was peculiar weather and Lea didn't like it...

The same thought about what Isa said yesterday was still bugging him, too. What was tomorrow supposed to be? Or today, rather... Lea was positive he'd find out sooner or later, nodding his head in decision that he wouldn't worry about it as he collected important books for school that day.

Lea assumed that his mother was out in the town that day shopping, and his father was probably out working as usual, or doing whatever that jerk wanted to do.

The snow was powdery but heavy and thick as Lea stepped through it, the crunching sound almost causing the redhead to be somewhat amused. He caught glances of children playing out in the snow, making snow angels and having snowball fights- Lea considered them lucky, they didn't have to attend school anytime soon.

Lea was curious of where Isa was, usually the dark-haired male would appear sometime soon next to him and talk to him on the way to Lea's school, but for some reason he just wasn't here.

And Lea really wanted to know what Isa was talking about for what today was... What _was_ today supposed to be anyways? Lea continued to contemplate this when he was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when he heard a laugh- a rather happy sounding laugh, and it sounded actually kind of cute to Lea's ears.

The redhead glanced up and noticed a small group of young boys, all Lea's age, and they were having their own little snowball fight. They weren't wearing the same nice uniform that Lea was dressed in, so they didn't attend the school that Lea was going to- they must've been the poorer people of Mori Suna.

But one boy had caught Lea's attention fully. It was a golden-haired boy, and his face had to have been one of the most pretty faces that Lea had ever laid eyes on. Lea found himself actually unable to look away from this blond boy with the big blue eyes.

His smile was something else, too. It was a great big smile that Lea could never hope to give, however he wished he could. The boy laughed loudly when the white snow pelted against his arm, powdery bits of the pure ice blowing against his pale cheek.

Lea couldn't take his eyes away from him and actually felt the corner of his mouth curl up slightly in a small smile. That's when Lea felt a presence next to him which caused him to flinch in slight surprise. There was Isa, standing next to him with a small smile on his lips.

"Good morning, Lea," he smiled.

"Oh, hey..." Lea murmured, looking up at him before back at the pretty blond boy playing in the snow nearby. "Hey, Isa? Do you know who that boy is over? The blond."

Isa didn't stare at the blond for very long before shrugging, "The hell if I know, Lea." He then rolled his amber eyes and then suddenly reached down to grab Lea's arm and jerk him harshly forward. "C'mon, you'll be late."

"Don't pull on my arm like that," Lea said with a stern voice, jerking his arm back out of Isa's grip. "I won't be late."

Lea turned his attention back to the blond boy out in the snow with his friends. He just couldn't look away. He had never felt this kind of strange way towards another male before, and he wanted the urge to just go over there and introduce himself and hug the blond boy so tightly.

"I've never found another guy so...well, cute," Lea said, giving a little smile.

Isa looked down at Lea and cocked his mouth, a look of mild anger and jealousy on his face. "Seriously, Lea, you'll be late."

Before Lea could say anything, a tall woman had come out of a nearby home and was calling the young boys to go back inside and be out of the cold snow. Once that beautiful blond boy was out of Lea's sight, the young redhead continued to walk forward.

"So what was today supposed to be?" Lea asked, looking over at Isa curiously.

"What?" Isa asked, sounding confused. But then Isa laughed gently and shook his head. "Oh, nothing's happening today- I was just messing with you."

Lea stopped and gave Isa a scowl before continuing on, "I've been thinking about it almost every second since yesterday when you mentioned it!"

Isa laughed again, "I knew you would, that's why I mentioned it. You think about things too much, Lea."

"Yeah...maybe I do..." Lea muttered.

"So I hear that storm that's coming is pretty bad," Isa mentioned. "So bad it could wipe us off this planet." Lea chuckled when he heard this, rolling his emerald eyes.

"Oh, I doubt that," said Lea, noticing he had arrived at his school. "Hey, I'll talk with you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," Isa said before waving to the redhead. "See ya." And then Lea vanished into the school building, leaving Isa alone on the snowy streets. He crossed his arms and stared forward before slowly walking away. "Yeah, that storm really will change our lives- I know it will..."

_In all actuality, I couldn't careless about that storm Isa kept talking about, all I was thinking about was that cute blond boy that I saw before school. He looked so nice and compassionate, just the right kind of attention I wanted and needed. It wasn't really fair what happened to me to me next, with my mother and Isa..._

The classes had ended that rather quickly, and Lea left as soon as he could. He was planning on going straight home because the moment he set foot outside of the school, the sounds of thunder banged through the sky like a gunshot hitting a cymbal. Lea all but ran home that day, his only focus getting home and being with his mother.

"Hey! Wait up!"

Lea gasped and came to a sudden halt when he heard a gentle voice call at him from behind. The redhead turned and glanced behind him, his green eyes widening and heart pounding when he saw that pretty boy from earlier come to a running stop in front of him.

He was panting gently and resting his hands on his knees before he slowly rose back up and passed a book to Lea, "You dropped this. You were running so fast I could barely keep up." The boy giggled gently and Lea actually felt his cheeks get warmer.

"Oh, th-thanks," Lea smiled, tucking the book back away into his carrying back over his shoulder.

"You're name's Lea, right?" the blond asked, a perky little smile on his lips.

Lea nodded his head, his throat too dry to form coherent words that would make him feel goofy if he tried to speak.

"My name is Xia," the blond said. "You must be real wealthy to go to that school, aren't you?"

Lea nodded again, still unable to speak any words, his cheeks growing darker and darker by the second.

"Hmm, you don't talk much do you?" Xia grinned, leaning in close towards Lea's face.

The redhead swallowed thickly and felt his head go to nod but he stopped himself from nodding and said clearly, "Sorry. I'm just... a little nervous is all--"

"About the storm, right?" Xia finished Lea's sentence with a smile.

"Yeah..." Lea responded. "Just...a little nervous..."

Xia laughed gently, "There's nothing to worry about. Just a storm. Hey, lighten up, will ya? It's snowing and everyone's happy, so you do the same, alright?"

Lea nodded his head, cheeks crimson.

"And don't run so fast anymore- I don't want to be constantly returning your school books," Xia chortled behind a hand. "I'll see you around, okay, Lea?"

Lea nodded again, seeing that boy's smile once more before the blond turned and disappeared over a snowy hill and out of Lea's sight. Once the redhead knew he was alone, he gave a very wide smile and laughed gently to himself, his heart fluttering and stomach hopping- it was no other kind of emotion Lea ever felt before and it felt wonderful!

Lea continued on his way back home, a bright smile on his lips. There was hardly anything that made Lea this happy, unless he had just gotten a good grade or his mother was an extremely happy mood, or Isa actually talked about something that interested Lea that day. But this - this was something that Lea had never experienced before- utter happiness and bliss from just that little talk he had with the beautiful young boy he guessed he had a crush on.

Lea reached his home quickly, sliding open the front door and stepping out of his shoes and setting his bag of books aside and peering around the spacious home. He didn't see his mother, or hear her in any of the other rooms.

"Mother?" Lea called.

There was no response still, and Lea was getting a rather bad feeling about this. "Mother?" He called again, moving through the house in search for her. She wasn't in the kitchen, nor the living room, the dining room, or even her bedroom.

Lea checked everywhere- every room, and even the outdoors of his house. But right as Lea was about to give up, he heard a distant hissing groan come from the garden, where Lea had just finished looking. Lea hurried outside to where the gardens were, gasping in surprise when he saw his mother laying on the snowy ground, holding her side.

"Mother!" Lea cried, running over to her side and helping her sit up a bit more.

Her lip was bloodied and there were more bruises on her face. Her fingers were gripping at her side, and to Lea's horror he saw red staining her clothes.

"Oh, Mother, what happened?" Lea breathed, absolutely terrified by the codition his mother was in.

"I-I'll be fine--"

"No, you won't!" Lea yelled at his mother. "It's that bastard who keeps hurting you, isn't it?! I need to get you to a doctor."

"Don't, Lea!" his mother cried as loud as she could. Lea looked back at her, his face firm and very serious as of why. "Listen to me, darling... I can handle this... It's happened to me before, but I would much rather him hurt me...than you..."

Lea couldn't form words again, feeling his eyes become wet from what his mother was saying. He shook his head, "No...I can't allow him to do this to you anymore..."

His mother reached out and gripped Lea's hand, squeezing it gently, "Tell me...how was your day?" She gave him a gentle smile.

Lea's eyebrows rose timidly and he felt his cheeks warm up again, "I met this...really pretty boy today... His name was Xia, and he was really nice. He was...probably the nicest person I've ever met, besides you, of course... He made me feel so happy, the happiest I've been in such a long time..."

Lea looked down at his mother and noticed that her eyes were closed and her head was leaning back against Lea's thigh. Lea blinked and gently shook his mother, "M-Mother?" Lea's eyes widened a bit and he shook her gently again. Lea pressed his ear against his mother's chest, and Lea gave a very relieved sigh when he felt his mother's heart beat.

Lea wondered if his mother had heard anything he had just said to her, about Xia and how good the boy made him feel. Lea decided that it was probably best for his mother to rest, considering the condition she was in. As carefully as he could, Lea had managed to lift his mother into his arms, finding her to be surprisingly light for her size, or maybe it was just because of how tall Lea was and how strong his arms were. Lea had carefully made it to his mother's bedroom, laying her gently down onto her bed before sighing gently.

Lea wasn't exactly sad, but more angry... Angry at his stepfather for treating his mother this way when there was nothing she had done wrong. Lea wanted to beat the living daylights out of that man. Lea sighed and shook his head, staring down at his mother sadly and shaking his head. She'd be okay- she was just sleeping...

Lea slowly stood to his feet and left his mother's bedroom, deciding to step outside and see how the weather was turning up. Lea looked up towards the skies and saw the clouds, a horrible grey color with lightning crashing through them...but that wasn't the thing that made Lea's eyes widen... It was the fact that the lightning bolts were purple. That wasn't normal...

From what Lea could hear he could tell that there people out in the town, and they were all talking amongst themselves, their eyes looking up high at the stormy sky. Lea glanced back at his home, wondering which he ought to do- stay with his mother and keep her safe, or go into the town and see what all the buzz was about.

Lea was confident his mother would be alright- she was sleeping peacefully and was away from his stepfather. Lea quickly hurried into the snowy town, noting that there were, indeed, lots of people in the town, huddled together and staring up at the sky.

Lea spotted Isa standing a few feet away, eyes staring directly up at the black and purple sky. Lea approached him and spoke casually, "So, do you know what's going on?"

"The storm," Isa responded, his voice strangely monotone as he stared up at the sky unblinking. "It's coming now, Lea..." Isa's amber eyes slowly adverted back down to the redhead next to him, a slight smirk on his face. "This is the fate of the unknown..."

Lea looked at Isa with a slightly disturbed face, "Why're you talking so weird, Isa?"

"So I heard you talked with that boy today," said Isa, suddenly sounding normal again.

Lea blinked, puzzled and nodded his head, "Yeah...why?"

Isa didn't answer immediately, but instead looked away, as if he was thinking for the right words to say, or that he was hiding something. "Come here..." Isa took Lea's hand and tugged him towards the inner most parts of the town where there were less people.

"What's going on, Isa?" Lea demanded.

"What's that boy's name, then?" Isa asked, almost demanding to know himself.

"He's really nice," Lea replied, still confused as of why Isa was acting this way. "Pretty happy, too."

"I guess that I'm not a good enough friend, am I?" Isa said, sounding rather stern.

"Isa, _what_ is going on?" Lea asked loudly, staring up at Isa with angry eyes. "You're keeping something from me and it's making me really...confused!"

Isa stared down at Lea with those piercing amber eyes, and for once Lea actually felt a little scared of the taller male in front of him.

"Keeping something..." Isa murmured. "All I'm keeping from you is the fact that I've never told you the way I truly felt about you, Lea..."

Lea blinked his confused emerald eyes and stepped back slightly, "Whaddya mean...?"

"I mean this..." Isa spoke, reaching down to grip Lea's shoulders and pull him closer. Before Lea had any time to do anything, Isa had pressed his lips against Lea's mouth, kissing him there firmly. Lea's eyes widened and he squirmed slightly underneath Isa, shoving the older male away and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What're you doing?!" Lea exclaimed. "I...I don't like you in that way! You're my best friend!"

"Not anymore," Isa spoke. "I've kept my true feelings hidden away for too long- and after I saw the way you reacted to seeing that boy earlier I knew I needed to tell you how I felt."

"No! I don't need this!" Lea cried. "I don't want you in that way- I want you as my _friend_ and friend ALONE!"

"If you don't accept me this way then I'll have to just do what I want by force," Isa said firmly, stepping towards Lea suddenly.

Lea gasped gently and quickly turned, "All I want is to be away from here! Be away from you!" Lea felt Isa grab his wrist, the redhead crying out desperate, hand shooting out to jerk Isa's hand off his wrist before rushing away, back towards the crowd of people where he knew he would be safe.

Lea came to a skidding stop when he heard the people in the crowds scream out in horror as one certain lightning bolt shot out of the huge patch of clouds in the sky and struck the land and causing the earth to quake underneath their feet.

Lea gasped out and tried to steady himself, hurrying back towards the crowd of people, eyes widening when he noticed Xia, looking terrified, in the crowd.

"Xia!" Lea called, catching the boy's attention immediately.

"L-Lea!" Xia called, actually forming a smile and running to him.

"Listen, I may not have known you for very long," Lea began, but was cut off by another lightning bolt striking the earth again. The whole ground shook harshly and caused many people to actually fall over, and now things were getting much worse when the purple lightning bolts began to strike out of the clouds nearly every second.

The lightning bolts were beginning to make the earth shatter and break to pieces, causing fires in the snow and shaking the ground at a tremendously hard rate.

"What is going on!?" Xia cried out over the loud roar of the wind and lightning strikes.

"I don't know!" Lea called back, eyes wide and terrified. "Listen to me, Xia! I want you to know that, even though I haven't known you for very long, that you're probably the nicest person I've ever met and possibly one of the best people I've ever met in my life. Go and try to find somewhere to hide!"

"Lea!"

"Just do it!"

Lea left Xia's side and ran back into the crowds of people, who were, by now, frantically trying to get back to their homes, crying out in fear as more lightning bolts crashed to the ground and shook the earth. Lea had to make it back to his home where his mother was- he wanted to be with her, and only her. Once in his life the only place he wanted to be right now was in his mother's arms.

Lea reached his home quickly, nearly tripping when another lightning bolt hit the earth. Lea threw open the door and ran to his mother's bedroom, seeing her standing up and looking out the window, her eyes wide and shoulders trembling.

"Mother!"

Lea's mother instantly turned when hearing her son's voice, "Lea! Oh, Lea, you've got to get out of here! And now!"

Lea blinked and shook his head in confusion, "Wh-what? Why?"

"This is the storm everyone's been talking about," said his mother, running over to Lea and placing her hands on his shoulders. "If you don't leave right now and find some place safe to stay then you're going to die!"

"Mother, what is going on!? I'm so confused!" Lea cried. "I just want to be with you! If I'm gonna die then I want to die with my mother!"

His mother stared at him, her eyes filled with tears. She smiled and Lea wondered why... If they were about to die then why was she smiling? Slowly, she reached out and placed both of her palms on either of Lea's cheeks and pressed her lips to his forehead.

"You have such a powerful heart..." she whispered, wrapping her arms around Lea's body and bringing him close. "With a heart that true and full of light, you'll live through this..."

"B-But what about you, mother?" Lea breathed, bringing up his own arms and wrapping them around her body. "You have a strong heart, too."

"Not strong enough..." she muttered, tears running down her cheeks. "You were couragous enough to go out into that storm and help some of the people there. You were determined enough to take on your stepfather. You were loving enough to care for me when I was hurt... And you were so happy today when you spoke with that boy..." She giggled gently and nuzzled into Lea's neck. "He maybe was, perhaps, the first love you've ever had..."

Lea found his cheeks turning dark when his mother said that to him. So...she _had_ heard him...

"But listen to me, Lea," said his mother, pulling away and staring into the redhead's slender, handsome face. "You will find another love, and they will be the best and most special person in your entire life." And then everso gently, she placed a feather-soft kiss against Lea's cheek and smiled at him.

"I love you, darling. Got it memorized?"

The ground shook harsher than ever and suddenly the ground had split, causing Lea's house to break apart, the roof falling in and slightly off. Lea gave a gasping cry when he felt his hand connected with his mother's slip slightly.

"Mother!" Lea cried, feeling the earth breaking behind him. The redhead gave a terrified yell when he looked over his shoulder and saw what awaited him, a black and purple swirling abyss, lightning shooting all around inside of it. The wind was blowing hard against them, and Lea looked back at his mother and saw that the very same exact fate was happening behind her as well.

"Mother! No! Don't leave me! I'm sorry!"

All his mother did was smile at Lea, and after much hanging on Lea tried, it just didn't work as suddenly the tips of his fingers slipped from his mother's hand, Lea crying out as he began to fall back into the swirling abyss below him, the last thing his eyes saw was his mother smiling and crying at the same time as she too fell back into the black abyss.

Lea continued to fall and fall, watching as his home, Mori Suna, was destroyed in front of his eyes. Tears streamed down Lea's face as he watched this, knowing that everybody he cared for was being slowly erased from existance as well.

His mother was gone forever, and his best friend Isa was gone, and Lea didn't even get to enjoy knowing Xia, the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on.

They were all gone...and so would Lea soon, too. Very soon.

_That was the last I ever saw of Mori Suna. I thought I was going to die... Everyone I cared about was gone forever. The funny thing was, was that I didn't die at all, but I really did live what I said to Isa- "All I want is to be away from here." It was quite literal once I had woken up...in a new world..._


	3. Chapter III

-1_All I want is to be away from here! Be away from you!_

This is the fate of the unknown...

I love you, darling. Got it memorized?

Lea's emerald eyes were closed, but filled with tears- so many tears in fact that his eyes were overflowing with them. A gentle breeze blew against his pale face from where the redhead lay against the stone ground, tears trickling down his cheeks and hitting the ground in small droplets. But after a moment, Lea's eyes had finally cracked open, his puffy eyes dripping out more large tears. The red-haired teen sat up and wiped at his eyes, hiccupping gently as he finally got a look around.

Wherever he was it most certainly was not Mori Suna. It was a town- a type of town Lea had never even thought of or imagined. There were buildings all around him, forming into the middle of the town to create a smaller maze of homes, while where Lea sat had to be a shopping district for he saw people standing all around and purchasing items of all sorts.

Lea didn't know what this place was and he found his heart hammering in panic. The redhead suddenly remembered what had _just_ happened. He remembered about that storm back at his home, and the look on Xia's face before he left him; the look of desperate determination on his best friend Isa's face; and his look of proud love on his mother's face. After that...Lea only saw darkness, and a throbbing pain in his leg as he fell through a crackling abyss, thinking that his death would await him.

But here he was, alive and breathing, in some new place he had never seen before. Lea went to go and stand, but instead cried out in pain and fell right back down. The redhead hissed and cringed, hand gently rubbing over his leg and it was then he realized that his leg was broken. Lea felt tears of pain come to his eyes at the utter feeling of helplessness come over him and he closed his eyes again and shuddered, wishing that none of this had ever happened and that everything was just back to normal...

But it wasn't. Lea was in some unknown place, all alone, his leg broken, and all of the people he cared so deeply about were gone.

"Are you okay?" came a small voice.

Lea flinched harshly, eyes shooting wide open and he fell backwards onto his back. His emerald orbs landed on the form of a little boy- or maybe a teenage boy who was just really _small._ He was wearing a lab coat and sky blue hair fell in front of his eyes, four books piled in his arm.

Lea felt like saying his leg bone had snapped but what came out instead of that was, "Where am I?"

The blue-haired male blinked and actually smiled a bit, "Hollow Bastion, don't you know?" The boy paused for a moment and placed a hand at his chin in certainty as he stared down at Lea curiously, like he was contemplating Lea thoroughly. Lea actually felt rather embarrassed for a moment.

"H-Hollow Bastion?" Lea breathed. "So...I'm not in Mori Suna..."

"Excuse me?" the boy asked curiously.

"Never mind..." Lea said, hissing again in pain when he shifted slightly.

Instantly when seeing a look of pain on Lea's face, the blunette knelt down and stared intently at Lea's broken leg. With just a few gentle pokes and some prods he nodded his head and said to Lea, "Your leg is broken, isn't it?"

Lea blinked in wonder that this boy could actually figure that out so quickly and he nodded his head. The boy smiled again and said, "Wait right here- I'll come back with some help."

Before Lea could say anything else, the blue-haired boy had raced off, clutching his books close to his chest possessively. It wasn't like Lea really could go anywhere else, but he wanted to. The redhead waited for about fifteen minutes, sitting there on the side of the street in the same exact position from when the blue-haired boy left him. Lea looked up when he caught a swift movement coming into view and he saw a much taller man come walking up behind the blunette.

He was also wearing a lab coat, but he had long blond hair and he looked about middle-aged. Lea took notice at the man's piercing emerald eyes as he looked over Lea's body, tilting his head to the side and examining him like how the blunette had just been doing.

"Who are you?" Lea demanded suddenly as the blond man poked at his leg.

"My name is Ienzo," replied the blue-haired teen. "This is Even- we're scientists in training."

"Scientists?" Lea repeated but winced when Even poked a bit too hard. After a few more moments, Even had stood back to his feet and nodded his head.

"Yeah, his leg is broken all right," he said. "Let's return to the study; I can mend his bones in a heart beat."

"What's your name, then?" Ienzo asked politely, hands behind his back.

"Um...Lea..." Lea replied hesitantly.

"You're not from Hollow Bastion, _are_ you?" asked Even rather curtly and Lea shook his head dumbly. "Thought so- it's pretty obvious by the way you're dressed. Well, come on then, put your arm around my neck."

With a grunt, Even had lifted Lea into his arms and they began towards the inner most parts of the town.

The walk was long, but Lea certainly had a vision to take in as Ienzo and Even took him to some place unknown- Even had mentioned a study, so Lea felt _somewhat_ safe. Better than a lab, or something like that. But Lea's surroundings were very interesting- they passed through a small maze like section of homes, and then down some outside corridors and down stairways and through long alleyways were the walls on either side were made of stone. Lea had been taken to a man-made building that was very tall and had large pipes hanging off the side of the building from higher up, where he saw steam shooting out of some of the brass pipes.

Finally, Even and Ienzo had entered inside the building, a secret door which was located along the lower side in the shadows. Now talk about a maze, but this place really was. There were so many long corridors inside this place it was rather insane, but it seemed as if Even and Ienzo knew their way and finally they were greeted by a short hallway with a bright door at the very end.

Ienzo quickly opened the door and stepped inside. It was a large and spacious study with many book shelves all around, a large desk in the middle of the room, with a high chair behind that.

Even stepped over to the desk and carefully sat Lea there and they had quickly bandaged up his leg and gave him a pair of crutches in case he wanted to walk. Lea was still looking around the room, taking in notice that there was a huge portrait of an old man with a golden beard and golden hair- he looked cross but behind those blue eyes there seemed to be some gentleness there.

"Okay, then, Lea," said Even, snapping Lea out of his daze. "Tell me what is going on here. Where are you from?"

Lea paused. He was the one that wanted to know what was going on here! His mother had just died, along with his two friends and his home had vanished- Lea wasn't in the best of moods. As Lea began to explain this in a rather hot tone, when he was finished Even and Ienzo gazed at each for a few moments before they said to Lea they'd be right back and headed into a secret room that Lea hadn't noticed before.

Lea was so irritated right now he could break something. He felt almost like a fire- like someone had thrown a huge amount of gasoline onto him and he just exploded, roaring out his flames and wanting to burn everything in his sight.

Even and Ienzo had eventually returned and Lea blinked when he noticed someone following them, and they were even tinier than Ienzo was. It was a little girl- she had bergundy hair and looked no more than five.

"You are not the only one who was taken from their home by the darkness," Even began. "This is Kairi, and her grandmother just recently died. She appeared here two years ago with her grandmother and no one knows where she came from. Kairi hasn't spoken to anyone since her grandmother died, and considering you are from another world...maybe _you_ can persuade her to say something."

Lea looked down at the small girl. She was partially hiding in Ienzo's coat, peeping up at Lea with blue eyes and looking a tad bit afraid.

"I-Is there...anyway my home will be restored?" Lea asked quietly.

Even crossed his arms and shook his head, "I highly ever doubt your home will come back. Once a world has been swallowed by the darkness it's gone forever."

"This is your home now, Lea," Ienzo spoke. "And we welcome you." Ienzo offered a small compassionate smile, but it hardly had any effect on Lea because all he heard was 'it's gone forever'. Lea couldn't hold back the tears and they came drizzling out of his emerald eyes once more and he let out a choked sob. He didn't care if he was crying this hard in front of these two men who had just taken them to their home, but he just couldn't control himself.

"Please don't cry..."

Lea blinked and looked up, feeling a very small hand touch his hand. Lea looked down and saw Kairi, holding Lea's hand gently in hers- she was smiling widely. "Please...I don't want anyone to be sad." Lea swallowed and shuddered, reaching up to wipe at his eyes a moment.

"I'm sorry..." Lea whispered.

"What's your name?" Kairi asked, her voice so small and sweet.

"L-Lea..." the redhead replied, finding that this girl was actually cheering him up.

"My name is Kairi," she chirped. "Will you be my friend? Pretty please? I don't have anyone else to play with! Even and Ienzo are always working."

Lea laughed softly, nodding his head, "Sure. I'll be your friend."

"Really?" Kairi gasped with a wide smile. "Yay! I can't wait to play with you, Lea!"

"Now, now, Kairi, Lea's leg is still broken," Even said firmly. "His leg has to be mended first- and then you two can play."

"Okay!" Kairi said reasonably. She then looked back at Lea and gave him a quick little hug before hurrying away into that back room.

Lea turned to look back at Even and Ienzo and noticed they looked like they were contemplating him again. They were whispering to each other and it made Lea really nervous. He heard only a couple of their words like 'survive' and 'powerful' and then he heard 'strong heart'. Lea was getting aggravated again and he yelled out, "I'm right here, you know!"

"My apologies," Even said. "You see...we're scientists who work under the order of Master Ansem- and he studies only the very specific and true powers of the heart."

"Who is Master Ansem?" Lea asked curiously.

Even pointed to the large portrait of the healthy looking old man that Lea had been staring at before. Even continued on, "We study how strong the heart is, and what is a truly, powerful heart."

"We were just thinking..." Ienzo said quietly. "That your home was destroyed by the dark powers - the Heartless, so to speak - and most of the time when that happens to a world...everyone on that world dies. It takes a strong heart to live through that, Lea...and that means your heart could be a truly pure heart."

"But it _also_ means," Even cutted in loudly, "that he is much more vulnerable to the Heartless. With a strong heart like that the Heartless will be all over him. It's a wonder they haven't broken into the study to try and reach Kairi... All I'm saying is that we need to always have a watchful eye on him."

Ienzo nodded seriously, and he looked back at Lea. The redhead looked extremely confused by all these words. He understood the parts about him having a strong and powerful heart, but what were the Heartless? And how come because he lived through the storm that made him vulnerable to the Heartless? Lea had so many questions, and when he asked them, Even and Ienzo refused to answer them. Ienzo looked like he wanted to explain it to Lea, but Even forbidded otherwise...

Lea had enough of this talk- it was terrifying him, and all he wanted to do was rest, and Even highly agreed to this and asked for Ienzo to lead Lea to his room. Lea managed to limp there with the help of his crutches and they arrived at a small room with two beds- one of which was already occupied by Kairi, sitting up and reading a book called 'The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh' to herself.

Lea sat down on the other bed, setting his crutches aside and looking all a mixture of lost, miserable, and scared. Ienzo stepped back towards the door and glanced back at Lea as he watched the redhead stretch out onto the bed.

"Lea?" Ienzo said.

Lea glanced back over at Ienzo in the doorway curiously.

"Everything will be okay..." Ienzo smiled. "If you need anything just pull that rope right there and we'll be here in a jiffy."

Lea looked at the rope Ienzo indicated- a small golden rope that connected with the ceiling and then probably ran through the place and then back to the study or wherever the two males would be. Lea gave a small smile and Ienzo nodded and closed the door.

Lea rolled over onto his side, his back facing the room. He stared at the wall and thought about everything that had just happened to him. Lea wondered if Ienzo was right and truly everything would be okay again. How could things ever be okay again? His mother was gone, and so were his friends and along with his home and all his dreams for a future there. Although when Lea began to ponder all his future dreams he remembered how he really didn't have much of a real future there anyways. Lea sighed in frustration and went to close his eyes but he heard Kairi giggle across the room and he opened his eyes again.

Lea slowly sat up and looked over at her where she was still reading that children's book. Lea stared at her for a long moment and took into notice that this little girl was happy even though this wasn't her world and her grandmother had just died- she was just content to sit there on her bed and read. Lea smiled slightly when he heard her laugh softly again, before she turned the page and read on. Maybe Ienzo was right about everything being okay. It couldn't be all too bad, could it? Perhaps this place was better than it seemed.

Lea sighed gently again and went to go and turn over again but he heard Kairi speak to him.

"Do you wanna read this with me?" Kairi asked with a cute smile.

Lea looked over at her and tilted his head to the side. He wasn't too keen on reading a kid's book, but after all he would rather sit up and read a happy little story with a happy little girl who looked like she needed a friend as much as Lea needed a friend as well.

"Alright, sure," Lea smiled.

Kairi gave a happy little laugh and quickly hurried over to Lea's bed where she hopped up onto to it a little bit ungracefully and scooted up so she was next to him, and she opened the book again and began to read aloud. She was a pretty good reader for being five or so, and Lea was already feeling better as Kairi read this silly little story to him.

And by the time Kairi had reached the ending, both Lea and Kairi had fallen asleep, Lea's head resting back against the wall and Kairi's head resting against Lea's waist.

Ienzo was correct. Everything was turning out to be okay. Lea's leg mended so quickly it surprised both Ienzo and Even. And now that Lea could walk without crutches he could easily play with Kairi like how the little burgundy-haired girl had originally wanted. Whenever they did go outside to play, either Ienzo or Even would keep them under good watch. Lea never even really heard or saw anything that was related to that whole Heartless business again, and he was perfectly content to just hang out with Kairi even if she was such a little child.

Another thing Lea never heard about or saw was Master Ansem, although he did hear Even and Ienzo talk about him a few times, with the add on little topic of 'wherever Xehanort had gone to'. Apparently this Xehanort guy had been gone for a long time and it seemed Even and Ienzo wanted to figure this out very bad. Not only _that_ but they hadn't heard very much from Master Ansem themselves. Lea figured that Master Ansem was a very busy man and perhaps he knew lots of people and needed to study and research with them before he returned to this place.

But Even and Ienzo seemed uncertain about Master Ansem's return, and one certain day, Ienzo seemed distraught about something. He had been quietly crying to himself while Even affectionately rubbed his back. Lea didn't know what this was about, but all he heard was 'Eleaus is gone!'.

Lea preferred not to butt in on other people's business but instead just thought about his own life. He had really gotten into some rather odd things around Hollow Bastion. He had been fascinated by doing some playful fighting and he had actually gotten really good at holding a sword. Him and Kairi would play a lot, silly little games of hide and seek, and tag, and then sometimes Lea would show Kairi some of the fighting moves he had learned, and then Kairi would sing - loudly and off key. Every night they would sit up and read a little bit of that story Kairi just loved, 'Winnie the Pooh', it was called.

And time passed in Hollow Bastion, and in time came new years, and Lea grew older and older. Soon enough he was now sixteen years old. He had grown to become a very handsome young man, full of delightful spirit and energy- his hair had grown out some as well, the red spikes now falling a little bit pass his ears. Kairi was seven now, and she had grown much more intelligent herself and was willing to learn a few more things- educational wise. Most of the time it was Even teaching her these things, but Ienzo would take a turn once in a while.

Nothing strange or bizarre had happened with these so called 'Heartless' that were hardly ever mentioned around the study, but Lea still remembered the first day he came here and he still contemplated those thoughts of him having a powerful and strong heart and how he was still vulnerable to these Heartless. Ienzo and Even didn't exactly want Lea to go off alone into the town without one of them with him, but Lea had managed to persuade them a few times, but other times they would forbid it...and then, well, Lea would sneak out sometimes. His personality had grown to be much more mischievous and daring- nothing like how he was when he was fourteen on Mori Suna- quiet, shy and nervous. Lea had always heard his mother talk about that people change when they get older, and Lea never believed that.

Lea thought about his mother a lot, almost every night he did. Once him and Kairi had finished reading he would roll over and remember his mother and how wonderful she was. Lea never actually talked about his mother though, although he always wanted to. He wanted to just come alive with how truly amazing of a woman she was, how kind-hearted she always was towards Lea, and how fun she was when Lea wanted to play. The only thing that Lea ever said that was anyway associated with his mother was the final words she had said to him before Mori Suna had vanished.

_Got it memorized?_

Lea would always add on that little phrase after a sentence that he thought _needed_ it. It irritated some people while it made a few other people chuckle. Kairi would always ask why Lea would say that and Lea would just shrug and laugh, responding with a little retort such as 'it just popped into my mind'. Kairi would always smile and laugh cheerily.

Almost everyday, Lea would do the same sort of things. He would wake up with Kairi and eat a healthy breakfast - it was usually associated with toast and eggs - before him and Kairi would go out into the town had play, Even or Ienzo following closely behind them. Lea had also been introduced to probably his most favorite food in the entire world. It wasn't much, it wasn't exotic, but it sure made Lea's tongue tingle gleefully. Sea-salt ice cream. After him and Kairi had finished playing or doing whatever they wanted, they would go and get some ice cream. It was obvious Lea loved it far more than Kairi did, and Lea would sometimes ask for two or three for himself. Once they had finished with their ice cream, Even would demand they return to the study so Kairi could do her normal educational studies, leaving Lea alone.

Lea didn't mind being alone sometimes, a young man of his age liked to be alone instead of always having a little kid following him around. Lea would stroll around the town and sometimes he'd just sit around and think, practice his sword fighting and just enjoy the clouds in the sky sometimes. Whenever Kairi would finish her studies, she and Lea would continue to play and have fun. It always seemed like the days went by so quickly and him and Kairi would eventually be told to settle back down in their rooms and go to sleep. They'd stay up and read more Winnie the Pooh of course before they would go to sleep, and then the normal thoughts would always enter Lea's mind when he'd lay down in his bed: _Why am I here? What is my purpose? I'm more vulnerable to the Heartless? Do these Heartless even exist? I've never seen them before. Mother...I miss you..._

  
_It seemed like I had a good life, didn't it? Well, you're thinking wrong. Things were good at first, yeah, but I mean, that can't always happen to me, now can it?_

"What do you mean Even is gone?" Lea asked Ienzo with wide eyes.

"He's just gone!" Ienzo exclaimed. "I knew this would happen eventually..." Ienzo flopped down into the large chair behind Master Ansem's desk, a hand pressed to his face. "It's all a matter of time before the Heartless come for me now..."

Lea blinked, "What? The Heartless? But they've never attacked! I've never even seen a Heartless!"

"It doesn't mean they don't exist, Lea," Ienzo said quietly but sternly. "It's the Heartless that took Even, and now...there's no one here to help me with Master Ansem's work. Even...where did you go?"

Lea didn't know what to say. He couldn't say anything! He couldn't even believe what he was hearing. How could Even just be gone? Was it the Heartless that took Even? Did that also mean that Even, too, was vulnerable to the Heartless like how Lea was? There was a good chance, Lea thought, because what other reason would there be?

Having Even around was like not having a reason to get up and do something. Lea and Kairi felt like they needed to try really hard to figure out what to do. Ienzo wasn't as good at teaching Kairi as Even was- Even was older and smarter, and Ienzo would get frustrated and irritated with Kairi at times. Lea was actually missing Even, even if the older man was stern and cross sometimes, but Lea did miss him.

Lea began to doubt the thing that Ienzo said about the Heartless coming for him, because a whole new year had passed and nothing had happened. Lea was now seventeen and Kairi was now eight years old.

_But when I woke up one morning it wasn't Ienzo that was gone. It was somebody else..._


	4. Chapter IV

-1Lea rolled over in bed, blinking his eyes open from where he had been sleeping very deeply and peacefully. Slowly, Lea sat up, rubbing at his tired eyes and then stretching. He felt like he had slept a good long time, but it also didn't seem quite right.

Lea glanced towards the window and saw that the sun was very high in the sky, bright and warm. Lea blinked and threw the covers off himself and hurried out of his room, quite angered now that Ienzo let him sleep so late. He rushed to the lab where Ienzo usually was, but he didn't seem to be there. Lea figured that Ienzo was out somewhere, but...where was Kairi?

Lea scratched the back of his head in wonder and decided just to wait.

And wait he did... All day he waited for Ienzo and Kairi to return but they never did. Lea was getting worried as to where the two of them were and why they hadn't returned to the study yet. Lea contemplated for a long while whether he should go out or not and nodded his head and dressed quickly to go out into the town.

As Lea walked through the small town, he realized how quiet it was, it was way quieter than usual. It never got this quiet here. And when Lea reached the shops in the town he saw there were no people there. Lea coughed and called out a moment to see if anyone was around.

What was going on? Was Lea the...only one here? But how could that be? Many people lived in Hollow Bastion. That's when the wind suddenly stopped blowing, making even the tiniest of noises go silent. Lea felt a tingle run up his spine in anxious fear of what was happening to him.

"Hello!" Lea called again. "Is there ANYBODY here?"

Still no one responded. But that was when Lea felt eyes on him and the redhead whipped around and came face to face with something he had never seen before. It was a small black creature with antennae and yellow glowing eyes. It was twitching erratically and running straight towards Lea.

Lea blinked and turned to run but gasped out in surprise when he saw the entire town filled with shops was now completely black with the black shadowy creatures. Lea's eyes grew very wide in horror as he watched the little creatures begin to morph together, in a big, black wave of small glowing yellow eyes.

Lea began to step back in the opposite direction again but suddenly stopped himself. He felt very hot suddenly. Lea growled and reached up to throw his scarf off himself, feeling sweat trickle down his neck and he slowly turned around, prepared to face whatever was behind him.

It was massive, completely on fire and it had hooves. The shape of the monster was just humongous with very big hooves, and where it stepped the ground would turn black, large crackling flames spiraling off into the air and then disappearing.

"You're the Heartless...aren't you?" Lea breathed, eyes narrowed.

The enormous fire beast in front of Lea proceeded to open it's mouth, which seemed to not even be there before, and gave a shrieking roar, long and distorted teeth stuck with thick strands of saliva. Lea's clothes and hair billowed back from the swift wind of the Heartless's roar, but Lea stood his ground.

"What did you do with my friends?" growled Lea. "What did you do with them?!"

The monster roared again, stepping closer to Lea before it halted completely- Lea could feel the heat of the flames.

"What did you do with Even!? Ienzo!? What did you do with Kairi!?"

That's when Lea suddenly felt little hands suddenly grab him from all different angles, pulling him down hard and back so his body arched and angled itself up towards the fire beast. The shadow Heartless behind him had grabbed Lea and were holding his arms and legs back, holding him up as if they were presenting Lea to the fire beast.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Lea shrieked, kicking out his long legs and trying to free himself.

The sound of the pounding hooves against the pavement came again and Lea jerked his head up to watch as the fire beast stepped much closer to Lea until it stopped right in front of Lea. Lea had never felt more hot in his entire life, flinching gently when he felt sparks graze his face.

The fire beast opened it's enormous mouth, and Lea could see the never-ending darkness of the inside of it's mouth. Lea snarled ferociously and struggled hard against the Heartless holding him back. He snapped angrily at the fire beast.

The fire beast actually laughed, a deep and rumbling laugh which then turned into a high-pitched echoing laugh. It seemed amused by Lea's actions and stepped closer.

"You cannot hurt me!" Lea yelled. "I am NOT afraid of you!"

The fire beast released it's shrieking, echoing laugh again.

"You may take my body from me, but my heart will always stay alive!"

The fire beast was very close and that was when something bright appeared and Lea had to close his eyes to block out the piercing light. And then an overwhelming jerking, tugging pain directly from his chest caused him to scream out in pure pain. And after that, a very abnormal feeling washed over him. It felt like a mixture of emptiness and bravery.

And then nothing. Everything went black.

Lea felt like something very important was leaving him, and he found himself floating in nothing but darkness. He could see a distant little glow very far from him, but it drifted further and further away. Lea shuddered and closed his eyes.

_I'll find my heart again... got it memorized?_

Let me tell you something. That was it. Lea...my Somebody...was gone, forever. Not every bit of me was gone though...my heart was still out there. And Even and Ienzo were correct: my heart was powerful, and that meant if I was taken by the Heartless then there was a chance that I my heart could be strong enough to make the Heartless disappear.

That is the case, and my heart was still very much out there. However, my body...Lea, wasn't. But, somebody new was there! Bet you can't guess who arrived about four seconds after Lea lost his heart?

Yeah. That's right. Me. Lea's Nobody. The name is Axel, got it memorized?


End file.
